[masraum]

Originally Posted by Zeke

Kwikset is crapset. I've been installing locks and hardware for around 30 years. I always had a soft place for Kwikset as one might prefer a Chevy over a Ford. Maybe it was because Kwikset was one of my father's accounts at his ad agency.

I've noticed how security hardware has gotten cheaper and cheaper over the
years. But the last round of "product improvement" has me on the trail looking for better stuff. I don't mean something like Baldwin, which IS good stuff, but something unique and advanced. The junk sold today is very poorly made.

I looked into Yale, but I didn't get a buzz.

Anyway, sloppy locks are bad news:

Yes, but I understand that 90% of the locks out there can be bumped and the higher quality stuff that's made to better tolerances is actually easier to bump.

Lock bumping - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

High-quality locks may be more vulnerable to bumping unless they employ specific countermeasures. More precise manufacturing tolerances within the cylinder make bumping easier because the mechanical tolerances of the lock are smaller, which means there is less loss of force in other directions and mostly pins move more freely and smoothly. Locks made of hardened steel are more vulnerable because they are less prone to damage during the bumping process that might cause a cheaper lock to jam.

Locks having security pins (e.g. spool or mushroom pins)—even when combined with a regular tumbler mechanism—generally make bumping somewhat more difficult but not impossible.

Because a bump key must only have the same blank profile as the lock it is made to open, restricted or registered key profiles are not any safer from bumping. While the correct key blanks cannot be obtained legally without permission or registration with relevant locksmith associations, regular keys can be filed down to act as bumpkeys.

Locks that have trap pins that engage when a pin does not support them will jam a lock's cylinder. Another countermeasure is shallow drilling, in which one or more of the pin stacks is drilled slightly shallower than the others. If an attempt is made on a lock that has shallow drilled pin stacks, the bump key will be unable to bump the shallow drilled pins because they are too high for the bump key to engage.

Locks that only use programmable side bars and not top pins are bump proof. Bilock is an example of this technology. Many bump-resistant locks are available which can not be easily opened through the lock bumping method. Baldwin and Schlage are two brands that offer bump resistant locks.[9]

I did work at a bar once that had bump-proof locks. The keys instead of having grooves and being cut were essentially smooth and thicker than a normal key and without the grooves down the sides. they looked like they were drilled and then had what sort of looked like the flints from a lighter inserted at regular intervals. I always assumed that they used small magnets, but I'm not sure.